The First Signs of Spring

The grounds team is off and running, the sun is out and the temperatures are signifying the start of another golf season at Hyde Park. We are excited to have many returnees and some new faces to our team that will help assist around the grounds. 

Zoysia Grass-

Overall, the turf has wintered well, there will be some areas in the Zoysia that will be slow to recuperate but we will monitor closely and replace if necessary. We have begun rolling the fairways to help firm after a long winter of freeze and thaw cycles, the light weight rolling will help reduce wheel tracking from carts and mowers.  The Zoysia grass fairways are starting the slow transition to green-up with the longer days and warmer soil temperatures, once the plant is actively growing it will have the recuperative capacity to withstand cart and mower traffic. It is difficult to anticipate exactly when the carts will be scattering to the fairways but historically we see early to mid-April when the Zoysia is actively growing. There will be shaded and low-lying areas that will be roped off to enhance these areas. 

Transition from Dormancy

Rolling of Fairways 

Putting Greens-

The greens have wintered well and have been mowed and rolled a couple times. This time of year the greens show some interesting hues of green, brown and purple. The splotchy or camouflage appearance exhibited on the original greens from the 1920's are the many different types of creeping bentgrasses; each grass type on the green preforms just a little different because of the genetic traits. 

#11 green

13 green 

Chipping Green- uniform with new bentgrass type

Spring Green Aeration-(Pending Weather) April 11th (Course Closed) April 12th and 13th- (Course Open) with temporary hole locations in the fairways. 

Horticulture-

Bryan Miller, Director of Horticulture has been focused on pruning, tree planting and spring preparations for mulching and pine straw. He was also was able to improve the drainage and soil in the front clubhouse bed. Unfortunately, this area has been a challenge to grow healthy plants, these improvements will help this area immensely. Another sign of spring are the emergence of the 10,000 tulip bulbs that were planted last fall. Bryan, will have more information on the tulip recycling program in April.

Other initiatives across the grounds include-

• Bunker sand additions 
• Irrigation system start-up
• Drainage repair on the left side of #8
• Weed control in high rough areas
• Clay tennis court resurfacing 

Thanks again for the feedback and questions about the golf course and grounds. Please don't hesitate to send us a note at grounds@hydeparkcc.com

Thank-you,

Pat O'Brien

Grounds Superintendent